Photo by Steinar Engeland via Unsplash

Classroom learning in higher education comes with its own challenges. As noted by previous studies, students enjoy in person lectures even though they frequently lose attention and retain less information than they do with other forms of education.

The challenges presented by in person lectures have led some professors and colleges to engage in flipped classroom models. In this approach, students do much of their learning and listening at home, reviewing notes and listening to lectures outside of class in their own time. During class time, teachers prioritize student engagement and active learning by assigning small group work and working with students to address gaps in understanding.

In most instances, flipped learning is ideal for distance education, provided colleges have the right technological platform to build student engagement and support online learning.

How Can Flipped Classrooms Work for Distance Education?

One of the most significant challenges in distance education is ensuring that you are holding students’ attention. Numerous academic studies repeatedly cite this issue as one of the primary barriers to the effectiveness of online learning. Unfortunately, distance learning creates an atmosphere in which students’ attention can easily wander to any number of distractions. As a result, lectures may lose their impact and leave students less prepared and engaged.

In this regard, flipped classrooms are often ideal for distance learning. By using class time to build engagement and encourage individual or group work, students enter an atmosphere where interaction and engagement are required to succeed. This flips traditional classroom incentives and prioritizes active engagement instead of passive listening.

Most flipped learning activities will require instruction from leading professors, either in the form of an introductory explanation or presentation. When using appropriate eLearning platforms, like SoftChalk, professors can create engaging introductory materials that ensure students understand assignments and come to class ready to get the most out of their classroom time.

The Benefits of Flipped Learning for Creating Hands-On Lectures

As the name implies, hands-on lectures are lectures that build active engagement. In this form of flipped learning, students engage in project- or task-oriented classroom activities created in advance by professors. Students can fully immerse themselves in a learning environment and actively dig into lecture material to build a better understanding.

Hands-on lectures are often an ideal form of flipped learning. They allow for better use of limited class time by allowing students to build on their current understanding of the classroom material, creating engagement opportunities for them to apply their knowledge rather than just passively listen to facts. They encourage students to do work ahead of time and come prepared with analysis and questions, putting students a step ahead of where they would be if they showed up to class without preparation.

Hands-on lectures also help professors identify students who need additional assistance. Once identified, professors can work with struggling students in a one-on-one digital environment.

However, there are obvious challenges to implementing hands-on lectures in an online environment. The digital nature of the classroom limits the amount of physical interaction that students can have together. As a result, the “hands-on” component is relatively limited within the digital engagement space. Fortunately, when armed with the right technological tools, hands-on lectures can be deeply impactful for students.

How SoftChalk Helps Create Effective Hands-On Lectures

Basic online platforms can create minimal engagement and group sessions. For a truly immersive educational experience, college administrators and professors must invest in robust technological tools for better student outcomes. As an award-winning platform in the digital innovation and education space, SoftChalk can help colleges with a digital tool that make hands-on lectures more successful.

SoftChalk comes with many benefits, including:

• Professional assistance in designing world-class education, including learning materials, classroom examples, best practices, and assessments.
• A Learning Object Repository that houses excellent lessons created by educators all over the globe to ensure that professors and college administrators have access to the inspiration and ideas they need to build their own effective, impactful lessons.
• An easy-to-use content authoring platform that makes it simple for professors – even those lacking technical skills – to create course content and flipped learning exercises.
• A portable content platform. Students want flexible schedules and learning environments now more than ever. SoftChalk’s portability ensures students can complete lectures and activities anywhere.
• A data-informed approach to enhancing student outcomes that gives educators access to a wide swath of data metrics to build the lessons and tools that will leave the greatest impact.

Ready to Learn More?

As you can see, flipped learning is ideal for all learning styles and can help education administrators better implement appropriate forms of online learning. When armed with a modern and engaging software platform, distance learning can help professors and colleges implement data-driven analytics, create high-quality content, and ensure students maximize their classroom time.

Ready to take your next steps? Start your 14-day trial today.​